


Strays

by TwinVax



Series: Critrole Stories [21]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Kittens, Stray Cat, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, soft, strays picking up strays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 07:30:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15238458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinVax/pseuds/TwinVax
Summary: Nott adopts a cat on the street.





	Strays

Nott turned when she heard the mewling, expecting to see Frumpkin, thinking Caleb had sent him with her after all, just in case she got in trouble while walking through the city. Instead of the orange tabby, it’s a tiny cat, with matted dirty fur that she can’t see the actual color of under all the grime. It walked favoring one of it’s back legs, it’s tail bleeding from a long angry gash that bled openly and dripped into the dirt. 

She realized soon after that it was a kitten, and it had been following her. She didn’t know how long it was trailing her for, but she could tell that it needed help, and for some reason had chosen her. A nice change of pace from things being afraid of her, in all honesty, that sort of made her day better despite it being injured

She takes a slow step towards the kitten, but it didn’t run as she got close, instead it mewed and rubbed it's head against her leg, blood and dirt mixing on the fabric on her leg in a truly disgusting combination that would probably stain badly. It didn’t bother her much, there were worse stains on her clothes, and she carefully picked it up into her arms, holding it closer when it didn’t protest or cry in pain beyond a few pained grunts when she found some bruising along it's sides with a few finger presses. 

She pets its head as she walks back to the inn, considering the weight in her hands. She had seen cat fights before, sometimes walked in one one already in progress too. They were normal for stray cats, Nott didn’t mind seeing them, but she knew Caleb got distressed about them getting hurt. She knew the injuries that came from those things, and it was obvious this kitten had managed to escape from one. 

It wasn’t normal for kittens to get into fights, she didn’t think, but there was always exceptions. The one she held proved it, probably, if her assumption was true. 

She bypassed the bar entirely when she entered the tavern, instead going directly to her room. Caleb was sitting on his bed, a book on his lap and Frumpkin lying across his shoulders, when she came through the door and locked it tight. 

He was just turning a page when he looked up, freezing with the page in the air at the sight of the kitten, and Nott quickly put it down on the end of his bed before he could speak, “I found it, in the street while I was looking for some things to fix the itch. Well, it found me, it was following me. I couldn’t leave it, it looked really hurt and I thought you could help me fix it.” 

The kitten mewed, eyes staring up at Frumpkin, who watched back from his perch on Caleb’s shoulder, blood pooling on the bed sheet for a few more seconds before Caleb blinked and nodded, “ _Ja_ , of course. Let us see what we can do to help the little one.”

Nott watched, biting her lip apprehensively while Caleb sifted through his bag. After a moment, he found what he was looking for, pulling out the bandages usually reserved for putting around his own arms or Nott’s exposed limbs. He whispered to Frumpkin, who immediately jumped down onto the bed and glided over to the kitten. 

Completely nonplussed by the dirt or blood, he picked it up by the scruff, almost immediately making it go limp in his grip as he held it still. Once Caleb was sure it wouldn’t move, he carefully wrapped the bandages around the injured tail. He paused for a moment to make a makeshift splint out of some hard component material, and fit that over the leg, wrapping the bandage fabric around that to keep it in place. 

He glanced at Nott once he was done, smiling to assuage her worry, Frumpkin gently placing the baby back down on the bed, “Luckily it looks like it might just be a sprain. I’m sure it will heal fine. This is the best I can do however unless you have a potion.” 

Nott’s ears folded, frowning, casting a mournful look at the kittens appearance and injuries, “No, we used the last one a few days ago…” 

Caleb nodded, expecting that answer, “Right, well. All she needs now is a nice bath and to find a proper home. That shouldn’t be too difficult to find, I don’t think. Cats are wonderful, a kitten wouldn’t have difficulty finding a home. You did a good thing, bringing it here so we could help heal it, Nott.” 

She meowed, curling up on the bed after making a nest through the folds of the blanket, and Nott watched her carefully. She thought about what Caleb said, but couldn’t help worrying that it wouldn’t be true. That people wouldn’t want a street cat, no matter how cute or clean or nice it could be. 

“No,” she said suddenly, looking up at Caleb, glancing back briefly at the kitten when Frumpkin lied down beside her, a stripe of fur licked clean by the bigger cat to reveal a gray coat underneath, “I-I mean. No, that’s good, that she’d fine a home, but uh. I stole her, so. So I’m going to keep her. I’ll adopt her, and she will be my own Frumpkin.” 

Caleb nodded, not arguing the matter further, trusting her judgement completely, “If that is what you want to do, we can do that without much trouble. Do you have a name to call her?” 

Nott looked at her carefully, contemplating as she thought that the kitten was just like the other things she’d taken before, except it was alive and would hopefully be as loyal a pet as Frumpkin was. It might not be a stick or a fancy rock, but it was still something she had wanted. 

“I think I’ll call her Trinket. I did take her like one, after all.” 

Caleb smiled, “That’s a good name.” he said, moving over so that Nott could get up on the bed with him. 

Nott nodded, pleased with that, as she watched Frumpkin and Trinket sleep together on the blankets. 


End file.
